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brettworks

thinking through music


  • August 3, 2023

    Resonant Thoughts: J.A. Baker’s “The Peregrine” (1967)

    “The hardest thing of all to see is what is really there.” “What is, is now, must have the quivering intensity of an arrow thudding into a tree. Yesterday is dim and monochrome. A week ago you were not born. Persist, endure, follow, watch.” “The peregrine sees and remembers patterns we do not know exist: Continue reading

    Resonant Thoughts
  • August 2, 2023

    Art About Music: MIDI Automation (2023)

    Continue reading

    art about music
  • August 1, 2023

    Database: Pole On Creating Rhythmical Structures

    “The idea is to create a rhythmical structure with chords, bass, little sound snippets and delays that combine to create melodies by themselves. For example, if you repeat a single note in a delay and put it into a room, it starts resonating and builds a melody on top of the basic chord. You never Continue reading

    database
  • July 31, 2023

    Slow To The Speed Of Your Thought

    Continue reading

    Uncategorized
  • July 28, 2023

    Brett’s Sound Picks: Ylia’s “Drifting Into The Good Night” (2023)

    2023 playlist Continue reading

    Brett’s Sound Picks
  • July 27, 2023

    Database: Thom Yorke On Speed Of Access And The Weird Fight

    “The speed of access is now a problem over everything. You know, quick decisions, throw away, modify, constant automation on your DAW. That stuff is all well and good, but the reason people are going back to previous stuff is that everyone is looking for forms of restriction, I think. (…) You throw something in Continue reading

    database
  • July 26, 2023

    Resonant Thoughts: Jaron Lanier’s “What My Musical Instruments Have Taught Me” (2023)

    “Some of my favorite moments in musical life come when I can’t yet play an instrument. It’s in the fleeting period of playing without skill that you can hear sounds beyond imagination.” “In Western countries, the social institutions that kept classical music alive—conservatories, instrument builders, teachers, contests—were being sustained by an influx of stunning musicians Continue reading

    Resonant Thoughts
  • July 25, 2023

    Eventually

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    Uncategorized
  • July 24, 2023

    Listening To Old Track Ideas

    I try to stay organized with my music, but I don’t have a surefire way of keeping track of everything I’ve done. What happens is that as unfinished pieces accumulate I assume that I’ll remember the ones with potential–that they’ll somehow float to top of mind. But my remembering is influenced by what’s in front Continue reading

    Uncategorized
  • July 21, 2023

    12 Accidental Epistemologies

    Keep Trying (Effort) Finesse It (Craft) Make Errors (Freewheeling) It’s Not Working, Right? (Reality Check) Ah, Finally! (Insight) Is It Unclear? (Discernment) That’s Derivative (Genealogies Of Artistic Influence) Identify The Macro In The Micro (Thinking Fractally) Concentrate The Experience (Intensifying, Distilling) Differences Make The Difference (Details Are Meaningful Details) Consistency Beats Intensity (Performance, Paced Over Continue reading

    accidental epistemologies, thought tools
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Thomas Brett is a musician and writer who holds a PhD in ethnomusicology from New York University. He is the author of Principles of Electronic Music Production and The Creative Electronic Music Producer, a book described by Sound On Sound magazine as “a deep philosophical analysis of the various creative inspirations, ideas and processes involved in producing electronic music.” His essays have appeared in the journals Popular Music and Popular Music and Society, as well as edited collections by Routledge, Oxford, and Cambridge University presses. Thomas has played percussion on Broadway since 1997 and writes about music at brettworks.com.

Recent Posts

  • Database: Dave Stewart On Stereo Picture, Frequency Differences, And Demos
  • Brett’s Sound Picks: Musicentrydelete’s “Depth” (2025)
  • When Less Leads To More
  • Omni 98 bpm
  • Drumming Diaries: Grip

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